Department of Systematic Biology, Evolutionary Biology Centre, Uppsala University, Norbyvagen 18D, SE-75236 Uppsala, Sweden.
J Ethnopharmacol. 2011 Jan 27;133(2):490-510. doi: 10.1016/j.jep.2010.10.023. Epub 2010 Oct 20.
Marketplaces epitomize a region's culture and trade, and can give a rapid insight into traditions and salience of commercialized medicinal products. The Qaysari bazaar, bordering the citadel in Erbil city in the Kurdistan Autonomous Region, Iraq, has 21 herbalist shops trading natural medicinal products, wild-crafted and cultivated from all over the Middle East and Asia Minor.
Freelist surveys were conducted with 18 of these herbalists to determine diversity and salience of traded traditional medicinal plants. Interviews were conducted to document use, trade volume, origin, stock and value of the reported species. Plant species were identified using a combination of morphological identification and molecular barcoding using the ITS region.
Vouchers were collected for a total of 158 samples, corresponding to 82 species of plants, 5 animal products, 8 types of stones, minerals or chemicals, as well as 16 mixtures of plant products. Consensus Analysis of the herbalist interviews shows strong support for a single culture of herbalist plant use.
Most reported plant species are known to have been used since antiquity, and uses are identical or similar to previously documented uses. Herbalists report a steady year-on-year increase in trade due to the economic stability in recent times. A majority (64%) of medicinal plants is imported from outside Iraq, and the data shows that imported plants trade at a higher price than locally-sourced species, and that these species are stocked in higher volumes by the herbalists to ensure a steady supply to consumers. A strong tradition of herbal medicine exists in Kurdistan today exemplified by the diverse and vigorous trade in medicinal plants commercialized from the provinces around Erbil to countries as far away as India, Spain and Libya.
市场是一个地区文化和贸易的缩影，可以快速了解传统和商业化药用产品的重要性。伊拉克库尔德自治区埃尔比勒市城堡附近的 Qaysari 集市有 21 家草药商，经营来自中东和小亚细亚各地的天然药用植物、野生和栽培植物。
对其中 18 家草药商进行了自由列表调查，以确定交易的传统药用植物的多样性和重要性。通过访谈记录了报告物种的用途、贸易量、来源、库存和价值。使用形态鉴定和 ITS 区的分子条码相结合的方法对植物物种进行鉴定。
共收集了 158 个样本的凭证，对应于 82 种植物、5 种动物产品、8 种类型的石头、矿物或化学物质，以及 16 种植物产品的混合物。对草药商访谈的共识分析显示，对草药商植物使用的单一文化有很强的支持。
大多数报告的植物物种自古以来就被使用，其用途与以前记录的用途相同或相似。由于近年来经济稳定，草药商报告贸易逐年稳步增长。大多数（64%）药用植物是从伊拉克以外的国家进口的，数据显示进口植物的交易价格高于当地来源的物种，而且这些物种的库存数量更高，以确保向消费者稳定供应。今天，库尔德斯坦存在着强大的草药传统，例证是从埃尔比勒周边省份到印度、西班牙和利比亚等遥远国家商业化药用植物的多样化和活跃贸易。
